Tonight's picture was taken in March of 2009. I know this photo had to be taken on a Friday, because on Fridays the university chemistry club visited the pediatric units and did hands on experiments with the kids. Mattie absolutely loved this club and no matter how badly he was feeling, he always wanted to participate in their antics. Sometimes the club even came into Mattie's two by four of a hospital room.
Given that we now live in the post COVID era, where masking is commonplace, this photo may not strike you as being odd. But think about our world prior to COVID. Most of us never wore a mask on a daily and hourly basis. But for children with cancer, this is very common place. They must wear masks when their white blood cell counts are so slow, making them susceptible to all sorts of viruses and infections.
Quote of the day: Life is like a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. ~ Albert Einstein
Last night my mom was complaining so much about her cold symptoms while we were having dinner, that literally mid-bite, I asked Peter to hand me my cell phone. My mom has been lamenting about not being in California and if she was in California, her doctor would have started her on antibiotics already. I couldn't handle it anymore, and I decided to contact her pulmonologist. Since it was after hours, I had to leave a message and wait for the on-call physician to get back to me!
I resorted to her pulmonologist because I know my parent's internist would be no help. As many of my faithful readers know, I call this doctor, dopey. Dopey lives up to his reputation. I can appreciate why he is judicious about prescribing antibiotics. But in my parents case, they have been fighting this upper respiratory cold for a week and NOT getting better. In addition, with their age and underlying health conditions I would think this physician would take notice. Or at least think twice about the benefits of prescribing antibiotics.
I feel like my parents physician has left me to do everything this week, without guidance and help. In any case, it did not take any convincing of the pulmonologist last night. She quickly prescribed a z-pack and Peter went out to CVS to retrieve it. Thankfully our pharmacy in Arlington (where we used to go when we lived in the city) is open 24 hours a day. It is practically the only one in our region open all night. Any case, they filled the script in record time and within an hour, I started my mom on the medication.
Yesterday, I thought my dad's condition was stabilized. But as soon as he heard that my mom was prescribed antibiotics, his symptoms somehow magically reappeared. His cough is back with a vengeance and he is coughing up yellow stuff. Needless to say, I wrote to his doctor last night requesting a z-pack for him. I told him that my mom is already on one, and we have given it a week and there is still no improvement.
This morning, I checked my dad's portal. There was NO message from the doctor. So at 9am, I called the office. Turns out dopey is having dental surgery today and is away from the office. His physician's assistant, just had a hip replacement surgery, so she is out too. Needless to say, I spoke to the manager of the office and he could tell I was not a happy camper. Dopey needs to have a system in place if he is going to be out of the office! Otherwise, I guess his patients can only get sick on days he comes to work! The office manager, put me on hold, and somehow got a hold of the doctor before his surgery. End result, my dad is now on antibiotics too.
I have played nurse maid, on top of my usual caregiver role, for a week and I am tired. I think I am so stressed out that I am not sleeping at night. I have had bouts of insomnia before in my life, and I would say this entire week it takes me hours to get to sleep. Fortunately once I get to sleep, I stay asleep, but given that I have to get up so early, not falling asleep until 2 or 3am is disconcerting.
Meanwhile, if you ask my dad why he did not go to his memory care program this week, his answer will be.... 'I don't know!' Then he will say, "because I have COVID." I have reminded him that he doesn't have COVID and tested negative. But things just don't compute. I have gone in circles with him today about the fact that he has a cold and a bad cough. Therefore, he can't go into the center when so sick. I even wrote the word, SICK, in his daily journal, in red ink. Since Sunday, I have counted each sick day in his journal, but no matter what I do, he retains nothing, has no interest in anything, and there are times I think I could get a better response if I was talking to the wall.
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